Vane for combined fluid torque converters and couplings



May 18, 1948.

J. JANDASEK VANE FOR COMBINED. FLUID TORQUE CONVERTERS AND COUPLINGS Filed Jan. :51, .1944

Patented May 18, 1948 VANE FOR COMBINED FLUID TORQUE CONVERTERS AND COUPLINGS Joseph Jandasek, Highland Park, Mich., assignor to Bendix Aviation Corporation, South Bend, Ind., a corporation of Delaware I Application January 31, 1944, Serial No. 520,424

7 Claims. (Cl. 103-97) 1 This invention relates to transmissions and more particularly to fluid transmissions having deflecting vanes adapted to minimize turbulence and to increase the efliciency of the transmission of power from a driving shaft to a driven shaft.

An object of this invention resides in the provision of fluid deflecting vanes having cooperative fixed and pivoted sections adapted to guide the power transmitting fluid with minimum turbulence.

Another object of the invention is to provide fluid deflecting vanes having fixed and movable sections angularly related and adapted to funce tion as a single streamline vane at light loads, and to function as. spaced vanes under heavy load conditions to minimize fluid turbulence over the entire range of operation.

Yet a still further object of the invention resides in the provision of fluid deflecting vanes having portions movable under the influence of fluid reaction exerted on the vanes to provide maximum guidance of fluid with minimum turbulence.

A further object is to provide fluid deflecting vanes having fixed and movable sections wherein the angular relation of the movable sections is controlled by the speed of rotation.

Another object is to provide vanes having fixed and movable portions wherein the movable portions are yieldingly urged toward a light load closed position and are movable in response to variations of fluid reaction to guide the fluid with minimum turbulence.

Other objects and advantages of this invention will be apparent from the following detailed description considered in connection with the accompanying drawings.

In the drawings wherein similar reference characters refer to similar parts throughout the several views:

Fig. l is a longitudinal sectional view of a fluid transmission embodying the present invention.

Fig. 2 is a sectional view of the first section turbine vanes taken substantially on the line 2-2 of Fig. '1 looking in the direction of the arrows.

Fig 3 is a view of the guide wh'eel gates taken substantially on the line 3--3 of Fig. 1 looking in the direction of the arrows.

Before explaining in detail the present invention it is to be understood that the invention is not limited in its application to the details of construction and arrangement of parts illustrated in the accompanying drawings, since the invention is capable of other embodiments and of being practiced or carried out in various ways. Also 2. it is to be understood that the phraseology or terminology employed herein is for the purpose of description and not of limitation.

Referring to Fig. 1 it will be noted that a driving shaft I0 is provided with a radially extended flange I2 adapted to be secured to an impeller hub l4 by means of suitable fasteners'l6. The impeller hub l4 supports a shroud l8 having fixed impeller vanes 20 secured thereto. The impeller vanes 20 are secured to an impeller shroud member 22 cooperative with the impeller web I8 to form an impeller channel 23.

A driven shaft 24 preferably aligned with the driving shaft I0 is provided with a threaded section 26 to receive a threaded portion 28 of a tur-' bine hub 30 contoured to engage a radially extended flange 32 of the driven shaft 24. The turbine hub 3|] is provided with a radially extended turbine web 34 spaced from a turbine shroud 36 and cooperative therewith to form a turbine channel 31,

Interposed between the turbine web 34 and the shroud 3B are first stage fluid energizing turbine vanes 38 having entrance portions 40 and rounded entrance portions 43 are fixed to shafts 42. The shafts 42 are journaled in the turbine web 34 and shroud member 36 and are provided with angularly related arms 44 having suitable counterweights 46 which tend to move the entrance portions 40 of the vanes toward the closing position under the influence of centrifugal force to which the counterweights 46 are subjected during the operation of the transmission.

Springs 48 interposed between the counterweights' 46 and fixed points 56 are provided to exert a force tending to move the entrance portions 40 of the vanes toward the open position in opposition to the centrifugal force exerted on the counterwelghts 46. If desired a single spring may be so employed. This spring may be interposed between a rotatable ring and a portion of the shroud 36 and the movable vane portions may all be connected to the ring.

Fixed vane portions 52 are interposed between the turbine web 34 and the shroud 36 at the trailing edge of the entrance portions 40. The entrance vane portions 40 are as illustrated in Fig. 2 provided with bevelled trailing sections 5| adapted to engage bevelled leading edges 53 of the fixed portion 52 to present a streamlined vane structure in the closed position when the transmission is operating at light loads.

An auxiliary turbine shroud 54 is secured to v the turbine shroud member 36 as by means of fasteners 55. The shroud 54 is provided with second stage fixed turbine vanes 56 which carry.

an auxiliary turbine web 58 to direct the power transmitting fluid to the entrance of the impeller channel 28.

The impeller channel 23 is cooperative with the turbine channel, 60 to form a power transmitting fluid circuit wherein fluid circulates in the direction of the arrow M to transmit power from the driving shaft ill to the driven shaft 24.

The turbine web 84 has an inwardly directed flange 82 secured to the turbine web 34 by means of fasteners 84/ A fluid seal 88 between the inner edge of the inwardly directed flange 82 and a stationary member 68 substantially seals the fluid circuit between the fixed and movable members. The stationary member 88 having a radially extended flange Ill with spaced apertures H has an enlarged axially extending section 12 having helical grooves [4 formed therein.

A guide wheel hub I6 is mounted on the section 12 and is provided with a threaded member I! having inwardly extended projections 18 adapted to extend into the helical groove 14 of the section 12.

The guide wheel hub 18 has fluid deflecting gates 80 having entrance portions 82 with rounded leading edges 83. The entrance portions 82 of the gates 80 are mounted on shafts 84 secured in the guide wheel hub 16 with suitable resilient material 86 interposed therebetween to permit the entrance portions 82 to move angularly in the power transmitting fluid circuit in response to variations of fluid reaction exerted. The guide wheel gates 88 have fixed trailing edge portions 88 having bevelled leading edges 98 adapted to align with bevelled trailing edge portions 92 of the entrance gate portions 82 to present a substantially streamlined gate when the transmission is operating under light load conditions.

The operation of this transmission is as fol lows. The driving shaft i8 turns the radially extended impeller flange l2 and the hub l4 to rotate the impeller web is. The impeller web i8 energizes fluid in the impeller channel 23 and directs it outwardly to the turbine channel 31 where it contacts the first stage turbine vanes 38. As illustrated in full lines in Fig. 2 the en trance portions 48 of the vanes 38 are aligned with the fixed portions 52 when the fluid reaction in the power transmitting fluid circuit is low. During heavier load operation when the fluid reaction increases, the pivoted p o 40 of the vanes 38 open up to permit fluid to flow between the portions 40 and 52 of the vanes thereby in effect increasing the number of vanes and exerting additional guidance on the fluid.

Energy absorbed in the turbine channel 31 either by the first stage vanes 38 or the second stage fixed vanes 56 is transmitted through the auxiliary shroud member 54 and main shroud member 38 to the turbine web 34 and thence to the driven shaft 24.

When torque multiplication is necessary to overcome the load to which the driven shaft 24 is subjected the guide wheel blades 88 are positioned in the fluid circuit as illustrated in full lines in Fig. 1. When the fluid reaction in the circuit is low, the entrance portions 82 of the gates 88 are aligned with the fixed portions 88 as illustrated in full lines in Fig. 3 to present a substantially. streamlined continuous blade to rectify the fluid flow and direct it to the turbine vanes 56 in such a manner that torque mul- 4 tiplication is insured. When the fluid reaction in the circuit increases, the pivoted leading portions 82 of the gates swing angularly toward the dotted line position as illustrated in Fig. 3 under the influence of fluid reaction to permit the power transmitting fluid to flow between the spaced sections of the gates toin effect increase the number of blades and direct the fluid in such a manner that maximum torque multiplication may be obtained with minimum fluid turbulence. When the load to which the driven shaft 24 is subjected decreases or the power applied to the driving shaft I0 increases to such a point that torque multiplication is unnecessary to carry the load, the fluid reaction in the circuit decreases. accompanied by a change in the direction of fluid flow to such anextent that the fluid impinges on the backs of the vanes 80 to exert a force tending to rotate the guide wheel hub 16 out of the circuit along the helical groove 14. This movement shifts the guide vanes 80 substantially out of the power transmitting fluid circuit whereupon the transmission is converted to operate as a fluid clutch to transmit power with substantially no torque multiplication. When torque multiplication is again required to transmit the load, the fluid reaction exerted on the portions of the vanes 80 extending into the fluid circuit tends to rotate the guide wheel hub 76 into the circuit along the helical groove 14 whereupon the guide vanes 80 are again introduced into the fluid circuit to rectify the fluid flow and transmit ,power with an increase of torque.

Referring to Fig. 2 it will be noted that the springs 48 exert a force tending to move the pivoted portions 40 of the turbine vanes 38 in the opening direction and that the counterweights 46 are effective to exert an increasing force to move the vanes in the closing direction.

At high speed operation the counterweights 46 maintain the pivoted portions 40 of the gates in the closed position whereupon both sections of the vanes form a substantially streamlined vane to direct the fluid flow with minimum turbulence during light load high speed operation. At slower speeds of operation when torque multiplication is required to transmit the load to which the driven shaft is subjected, the force exerted by the springs 48 coupled with fluid reaction exerted on the pivoted portions 40 of the turbine vanes is effective to move the vanes 40 toward the dotted line position to direct the fluid with minimum turbulence.

The guide wheel gates illustrated in Fig. 3 operate in substantially the same manner as the vanes illustrated in Fig. 2, it being noted that the resilient liner 86 is effective to yieldingly urge the pivoted portions 82 of the gates toward the closed or full line position as illustrated in Fig. 3. The junctures between the fixed and movable portions .0[ the turbine vanes and the guide wheel comprisin streamlined fixed discharge and movable entrance vane portions wherein the juncture between the fixed and movable portions is angularly inclined in the direction of fluid flow, the movable vane portion being provided with centrifugally actuated means and opposing yielding means to control its degree of pivoting.

2. In a fluid transmission having a power transmitting fluid circuit, a plurality of sectionaiized vanes comprising fixed discharge and relatively movable entrance members adapted in one operative position to present a streamlined continuous contour and in another operative position to provide spaced fluid deflecting members each having substantially streamlined entrance and discharge portions, the movable vane portion being provided with centrifugally actuated means and opposing yielding means to control its degree of pivot from the closed position.

3. A fluid deflecting member for a fluid transmission having a power transmitting fluid circuit, said member comprising spaced fixed discharge and movable entrance streamlined portions, the

juncture between the fixed and movable portions being angularly inclined in the direction of fluid flow, and the movable vane portion being provided with centrifugally actuated means and opposing yielding means to control its degree of angular movement from the closed vane position.

4. A turbine vane for a fluid transmission having a power transmitting fluid circuit, said vane having angularly fixed discharge and movable entrance portions cooperating in a closed position to form a substantially streamlined continuous vane, the juncture between the fixed and movable portions being angularly inclined in the direction of fluid flow, and yielding means urging the movable portion toward the open position in opposition to fluid reaction exerted on the vane.

5. In a fluid transmission having a power transmitting fluid circuit a turbine having spaced web and shroud members, spaced turbine vanes each having a fixed discharge portion of substantially streamlined contour, a movable entrance portion positioned forwardly of each fixed portion. a shaft journaled in the web and shroud members for controlling the angular position of each movable portion, yielding means urging,

the movable portion of each vane .toward the separated position relative to its associated fixed portion, and counterweights operably connected to each movable portion to urge the movable portion toward a closed position relative to its association fixed portion at high speeds of operation.

6. In a fluid transmission having a power transmitting fluid circuit, an energy absorbing turbine having spaced web and shroud members,

, spaced shafts journaled in the web and shroud members, energy absorbing vanes each having a fixed discharge portion secured in the web and shroud members and a movable entrance portion fixed to one of said shafts, each movable vane portion having a rounded entrance edge and a trailing edge ang larly inclined in the direction of fluid flow, each fixed vane portion having an entrance edge angularly inclined in the direction of fluid flow, and counterweights to urge the movable portions toward the closed position relative to the fixed portion at high speeds of operation to present a substantially continuous streamlined vane, and yielding means urging the movable portions to move angularly relative to the fixed portions to present spaced substantially streamlined vanes to allow fluid to flow between the vane portions during low speed operation.

7. A fluid transmission having a power transmitting fluid circuit comprising a turbine having spaced web and shroud members, spaced turbine vanes each having a fixed discharge portion of substantially streamlined contour fixed to the web and shroud members, a movable entrance portion positioned forwardly of each fixed portion and a shaft journaled in the web and shroud members for controlling the angular position of each movable portion, yielding means urging the movable portion of each vane toward the separated position relative to its associated fixed portion to allow fluid to flow between-the vane portions during low speed operation of the transmission.

JOSEPH JANDASEK.

' REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the flle of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1,537,401 Blumschein May 12, 1925 1,556,012 Flettner Oct. 6, 1925 1,664,895 Nydqvist Apr. 3, 1928 2,200,596 Dodge May 14, 1940 2,235,370 Jandasek Mar. 18, 1941 2,377,009 Heyer May 29, 1945 FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date 547,491 Germany Apr. 1, 1932 616,042 Germany 1935 617,173 Germany 1935 

